NAME

       mkdir - make directories

SYNOPSIS

       mkdir [-p][-m mode] dir...

DESCRIPTION

       The  mkdir  utility  shall  create the directories specified by the operands, in the order
       specified.

       For each dir operand, the mkdir utility shall perform actions equivalent  to  the  mkdir()
       function  defined in the System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, called with the
       following arguments:

        1. The dir operand is used as the path argument.

        2. The value of the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG, and S_IRWXO is used as  the
           mode argument. (If the -m option is specified, the mode option-argument overrides this
           default.)

OPTIONS

       The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base Definitions  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.

       The following options shall be supported:

       -m  mode
              Set  the  file permission bits of the newly-created directory to the specified mode
              value. The mode option-argument shall be the same as the mode operand  defined  for
              the  chmod  utility.  In  the  symbolic_mode strings, the op characters '+' and '-'
              shall be interpreted relative to an assumed initial mode of a= rwx; '+'  shall  add
              permissions  to  the  default  mode,  '-' shall delete permissions from the default
              mode.

       -p     Create any missing intermediate pathname components.

       For each dir operand that does not name an existing directory, effects equivalent to those
       caused by the following command shall occur:

              mkdir -p -m $(umask -S),u+wx $(dirname dir) &&
              mkdir [-m mode] dir

       where  the  -m  mode  option represents that option supplied to the original invocation of
       mkdir, if any.

       Each dir operand that names an existing directory shall be ignored without error.

OPERANDS

       The following operand shall be supported:

       dir    A pathname of a directory to be created.

STDIN

       Not used.

INPUT FILES

       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The following environment variables shall affect the execution of mkdir:

       LANG   Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that  are  unset  or
              null.  (See  the  Base  Definitions  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2,
              Internationalization Variables for the precedence of internationalization variables
              used to determine the values of locale categories.)

       LC_ALL If  set  to  a  non-empty  string  value,  override  the  values  of  all the other
              internationalization variables.

       LC_CTYPE
              Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text  data  as
              characters  (for  example,  single-byte  as  opposed  to  multi-byte  characters in
              arguments).

       LC_MESSAGES
              Determine the locale that should be used to  affect  the  format  and  contents  of
              diagnostic messages written to standard error.

       NLSPATH
              Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES .

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

       Default.

STDOUT

       Not used.

STDERR

       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES

       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

       None.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values shall be returned:

        0     All  the  specified  directories  were  created  successfully  or the -p option was
              specified and all the specified directories now exist.

       >0     An error occurred.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       The default file mode for directories is a=  rwx  (777  on  most  systems)  with  selected
       permissions  removed  in  accordance  with  the  file mode creation mask. For intermediate
       pathname components created by mkdir, the mode is the default modified by u+  wx  so  that
       the  subdirectories  can  always  be created regardless of the file mode creation mask; if
       different ultimate permissions are desired for the intermediate directories, they  can  be
       changed afterwards with chmod.

       Note that some of the requested directories may have been created even if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES

       None.

RATIONALE

       The System V -m option was included to control the file mode.

       The  System  V -p option was included to create any needed intermediate directories and to
       complement the functionality provided by rmdir for removing directories in the path prefix
       as  they become empty.  Because no error is produced if any path component already exists,
       the -p option is also useful to ensure that a particular directory exists.

       The functionality of mkdir is described substantially through a reference to  the  mkdir()
       function in the System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. For example, by default,
       the mode of the directory is affected by the file mode creation mask  in  accordance  with
       the  specified behavior of the mkdir() function. In this way, there is less duplication of
       effort required for describing details of the directory creation.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       chmod() , rm , rmdir() , umask() , the System Interfaces volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       mkdir()

COPYRIGHT

       Portions  of  this  text  are  reprinted  and  reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
       1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology  --  Portable  Operating  System
       Interface  (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by
       the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and  The  Open  Group.  In  the
       event  of  any  discrepancy  between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard  is  the  referee  document.  The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .